Notice must be in writing

The summary of St Annes Distributors Ltd v CRC is headed Notice must be in writing. In the case the First-tier Tribunal took as valid a purported notice of withdrawal sent by email on 7 September 2009 but the taxpayer appealed to the Upper Tribunal.

The Upper Tribunal said that the email did not constitute a notice of withdrawal. The report  gives the impression that the notice was invalid because it had been sent by email but a reading of the decision shows it was invalid because of defective wording: see para 20.

It is worth emphasising that a notice by email is a notice in writing and emails are in general valid even if they are not signed or otherwise authenticated unless there is a requirement in the legislation or a contract to the...